Uijeongbu Budae-jjigae Street

This short street is the place to find out, over a single meal, how budae-jjigae (army stew), a pot of ham, sausage and kimchi, became the signature dish of a whole city. The restaurants cluster around Hoguk-ro 1309beon-gil, next to the site of the old Yangju County office, right outside Exit 2 of Uijeongbu Jungang Station on the Uijeongbu light rail. If you are planning half a day north of Seoul, time your lunch or dinner for here.

A stew born of post-war hunger

The name combines budae (military unit) and jjigae (stew). In the lean years after the Korean War, ham, sausage and bacon found their way out of the US Army bases around Uijeongbu and into pots of kimchi and gochujang. The restaurant regarded as the original, Odeng Sikdang, goes back to a street stall that Heo Gi-suk ran from 1960; she registered the business under its present name in 1968. The name, meaning "fish-cake restaurant", is simply what customers called it when she sold fish cakes. As the stall became known, more specialist restaurants opened nearby and the street took shape. Where exactly the dish was born, and who cooked it first, cannot be pinned down with certainty, and accounts differ.

From "stew street" to "budae-jjigae street"

Shop owners once preferred the name "famous Uijeongbu stew", partly to play down the dish's army-base associations, and for years the entrance arch read "Famous Uijeongbu Jjigae Street". In 2008 the city tidied up a stretch of about 470 m, cut the number of shop signs from 131 to 62, put up a new illuminated entrance sculpture and renamed the street "Uijeongbu Budae-jjigae Street". It was designated a budae-jjigae speciality street by Gyeonggi Province in 2009 and chosen as one of the province's tourism theme alleys in 2021. The city's current (2026) list of speciality food streets includes 12 budae-jjigae restaurants here.

What to look out for

• Entrance sculpture: the 2008 gateway carries the street's name and lighting, and photographs best after dark.
• Odeng Sikdang: the restaurant the city recognises as the original. It became famous nationwide after appearing in Heo Young-man's food comic Sikgaek.
• A different broth at every table: the stock, the kimchi and the mix of ham and sausage vary from one restaurant to the next. If you can come twice, try a different place each time.
• Fusion Culture and Tourism Promotion Centre: the city's visitor centre across the road has hosted an exhibition of stories collected from the street's restaurateurs and a VR experience in which you "cook" a virtual pot of budae-jjigae.

Festival and a telling episode

A food festival devoted to budae-jjigae was first held in 2006 and has continued every autumn (usually in October) around this street, with cooking contests, tastings and performances. At the 2016 festival the then US ambassador to Korea, Mark Lippert, came to try the stew. A dish that began with ingredients from US Army bases being tasted by the American ambassador: the episode sums up the street's history neatly.

Tripto tips

• Getting there: the street starts right outside Exit 2 of Uijeongbu Jungang Station (Uijeongbu light rail). From Uijeongbu Station on Seoul Subway Line 1 it is about 700 m north, a walk of roughly 10 minutes.
• Time needed: 60–90 minutes covers a meal and a stroll. Add the nearby Uijeongbu Jeil Market and the Haengbok-ro shopping street, both within walking distance, and you have a half-day outing.
• Opening hours: the street itself has no hours; each restaurant sets its own opening times and closing days. The best-known places have queues at mealtimes, so arrive a little early or late.
• Parking: this varies by restaurant, so ask in advance. With the light rail and Line 1 so close, public transport is much easier.
• Festival dates: discounts and stamp-style promotions are sometimes offered during the autumn festival. Dates change every year, so check Uijeongbu City's tourism information.